Gender and the Law Association (GALA)

02/12/2020

"However, although this is a momentous achievement, there’s still a long way to go before reaching gender equality among law practitioners. In the US, women still make up less than 25% of law firm equity partners and tenured law professors. Furthermore, Ginsburg’s stellar career did not exactly ignite the way for other women to follow in her footsteps: only four women have ever served on the Supreme Court."

Women still lead an uphill battle in law schools -- but things are changing.

01/24/2020

"What would halt the protests — short of a revocation of the law by the Supreme Court, where it has been challenged in nearly 60 petitions — is unclear. But there is no indication the women will up and leave anytime soon.

Leaders from Modi’s party have blamed the protests on provocateurs deliberately misleading poor, uneducated people.

The women braving unusually cold winter nights seem undeterred.

“Modi’s actions have stirred our blood,” said Asma Khatoon, an octogenarian. “We don’t feel cold anymore.” ___ Associated Press journalists Rishi Lekhi and Rishabh R. Jain contributed to this report."

NEW DELHI (AP) — In the Indian capital’s Shaheen Bagh neighborhood, beside open sewers and dangerously dangling electricity wires, a group of Muslim women in colorful headscarves sit in resistance...

01/19/2020

'“This historic decision marks a milestone for LGBTQ rights in Chile and in South America,” said former HRC Global Director Ty Cobb. “We commend the efforts of all the LGBTQ advocates involved, including our Chilean partners at Fundación Iguales, who worked tirelessly for five years to achieve this victory. While this legislation removes roadblocks for many trans people, there is still important progress to be made -- especially for transgender youth.”'

On December 27, 2019, Chile’s Gender Identity Law -- Ley de Identidad de Género, which provides legal protections for gender identity recognition, went into effect.

11/25/2019

"In Spain, protesters condemned the position of the nationalist-populist Vox party, which says that no specific law should exist to protect women against men’s violence but just one to punish all domestic violence, including the “mistreatment of men.”

The party also wants to scrap public funding for associations supporting female victims of domestic or sexual abuse because they consider them ideologically biased.

Vox’s presence in the Spanish parliament — the first time for a far-right party in nearly four decades — has galvanized the country’s fervent feminist movement. In recent months, women’s rights activists have also rebelled against recent judicial decisions widely seen as unfair for women who have been abused or r***d."

MADRID - Feminist activists confronted a prominent far-right Spanish politician on Monday after he used an event against gender violence to advocate for abolishing the country’s law aimed at protecting women.

11/19/2019

"ERA advocates argue that the amendment would have the greatest effect on the way gender-based violence is litigated in court. While currently, victims of domestic violence and sexual assault can appeal their cases through legal system, they can only go so far: In 2000, the Supreme Court struck down a provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which allowed victims of gender-based crimes to sue their attackers in federal court. The ERA could help fill in this gap in the law and give women one more avenue for seeking justice under the law.

The ERA may also have a positive effect on pay inequity and pregnancy discrimination. On paper, both are illegal, but experts say hidden loopholes have made the law easy to skirt. “There are laws that provide everyone should be given equal pay for equal work,” Neuwirth explained. “But one legitimate factor that can legally affect your pay is what you were paid at your last job. Well, who gets paid less?” Neuwirth said the ERA could help break women out of this “vicious circle” that allows companies to lawfully pay them less for the same job."

The Equal Rights Amendment could have a "tremendous impact" on how women are treated under the law, experts say.

10/30/2019

"As a photographer who’s spent the last 20 years covering conflicts in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Darfur, Libya, and Lebanon, Addario has been drawn to the often under-covered topic of what it’s like to be a woman on the front lines of war. Women in the military “want to show that they’re capable, they’re tough, they can keep up with the men,” she says. “They don’t want to be singled out.”

Her photographs for the National Geographic story speak to this desire. In one image, a US marine corporal named Gabrielle Green carries a male colleague slung over her shoulder—a signal of the fact that her gender won’t prevent her from fulfilling her duties in combat. Her expression is determined, her gaze slightly lowered. A tattoo on her thigh reads, The fire inside me burns brighter than the fire around me. “I think that’s important because one of the things marines in the military talk about, when they talk about women on the front lines, is are they able to carry out one of their wounded comrades if something happens?” Addario notes. “Being able to carry a male marine who is clearly very muscular and not light is a skill, it’s imperative and important for any marine to be able to do.”"

"Men and women don’t necessarily see differently," says photojournalist Lynsey Addario. "But people respond to us differently and we have different access."

10/27/2019

"One trans woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she has a public profile as an artist, says that she assumes trans people are banned when others users report their accounts – and that Tinder isn’t doing anything to stop that from happening.

“I get that some people are not wanting to connect with trans people, which is their life, but I don’t deserve to be banned because of that and there are people who are interested in me,” she says, adding that she’d messaged Tinder after being banned but only received “really vague answers – they couldn’t ever explain exactly why”."

Despite having 50 gender options, trans folks tell PinkNews that they are being banned from Tinder for disclosing that they are transgender.

09/17/2019

Hello everyone!

GALA is building up its executive team for 2019-20! Here are a list of the positions we are looking to fill:

VP Events
VP Finance
VP ManMade
Editor-in-Chief - GALA Blog
1L/2L/3L Reps

Please submit a resume and cover letter to [email protected]. If you are interested in multiple positions, please indicate each position of interest in your cover letter but do not apply to each individually. Applications are due Monday, September 23, 2019.

04/13/2019

'In October of that year, she retained a lawyer and moved ahead with the divorce. Once again, Shamji requested more time for the sake of the children.

She relented, only to serve him with divorce papers a month later.

"I believe that women have an intuitive sense that something might be going on that they're not comfortable with," Ham said of the tug-of-war in the couple's marriage.

"It doesn't necessarily mean they're able or necessarily prepared to leave in that particular moment because abusive relationships are very complex and nuanced."'

Two days before Dr. Elana Fric was brutally attacked and killed by her husband while their three young children were asleep in the family home, she had served him with divorce papers. The headline-making case is once again thrusting a spotlight on domestic violence and the dangers spouses face when....

04/10/2019

A new grant awarded to Professor Claire Houston will help inform family law cases involving transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) children. Houston has received a $6,800 Western University Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Explore Grant for her project, “Respecting and Protecting Trans and Gender Non-conforming Children.”

A new grant awarded to Professor Claire Houston will help inform family law cases involving transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) children. Houston has received a $6,800 Western University Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Explore Grant for her project, “Respecting and ...

04/09/2019

"The events cited include a dinner where a male partner told three female summer associates to sing and dance to a Care Bears song, and a gathering at a partner’s home where a male summer associate pushed a female colleague into the swimming pool to applause and high-fives.

At the office, the plaintiffs claim, women were repeatedly subjected to “sexist, sexualized comments and conduct” about their attire and appearance. Female employees who had children were stigmatized as not being committed to their work and were often fired, the complaint says.

Women who complained about a hostile environment faced “career suicide,” with many being pressured into leaving the company or forced out, the complaint says."

The firm is accused of engaging in gender and pregnancy discrimination by underpaying female lawyers, thwarting their advancement and pushing them out once they have children.

04/07/2019

"A slew of women have been appointed law dean this semester, which will soon yield a record high for female leadership in the legal academy. The number of women occupying the dean suites has been on the rise for years, but this year’s new batch of leaders is particularly diverse in both gender and race."

Women are set to assume law school deanships this spring and summer. Here's an introduction to those who will soon run the show at many law campuses.